My latest piece for The Markaz reviw is about two exhibitions in Tripoli and Florence. These examine Libyan identity, gauging what to take and what to leave of its colonial past and its ancestral roots, while trying to make sense of the last years of civil war.
Read More![The work of Alessandra Ferrini [Image courtesy of the artist]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/alessandra-ferrini-maxxi.jpg?resize=1200%2C630&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1)
Middle East Monitor has just published my latest article titled: “Artist Alessandra Ferrini explores the complex relationship between Libya and Italy.”
The article is based on an interview with London-based Italian artist Alessandra Ferrini, who deepens the conversation around colonial and recent Libyan history, creating work about the manipulation of information, colonial memory, trauma and reparations.
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Among the different research I’m currently conducting around different themes and places in contemporary art, one of the interest trail in Italian colonialism in North Africa.
I have written some pieces about Italian colonialism in Libya, and now I looked at Ethiopia and Eritrea with Eritrean-born artist Dawit L. Petros.
He has focused for over a decade on a critical re-reading of colonialism. His artworks aim for an introspective and textured analysis of the historical factors that determined migrations, and his practice always includes extensive research on the field.
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My article on Italian colonialism in Libya has just been published by Middle East Eye. The piece explores how filmmakers and artists are exploring a largely neglected history of Italy’s presence in Libya in the 20th century.
It took me some three months to get all the voices together and get a clear picture of history. Thought I’m taking the art lens, this artist and country and type of research is a bit outside my comfort zone, so I was tempted to stop at what I had a few times.
It took a very determined editor to allow me to go all the way down with it. Like all the difficult things in life, this allowed me to bring my understanding and writing to a new level.
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Naima Morelli is an arts writer and journalist specialized in contemporary art from Asia-Pacific and the MENA region.
She has written for the Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, The Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, Internazionale and Il Manifesto, among others, and she is a regular contributor to Plural Art Mag, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye as well as writing curatorial texts for galleries.
She is the author of three books on Southeast Asian contemporary art.
Reach out: contact [at] naimamorelli.com
